3 . In October, I told the eight-year-olds about my plan. “I’d like all of you to do extra jobs to _________ some money. Then we’ll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner _________.” I wanted the children to _________ that it’s more blessed to give than to _________. I wanted them to understand that kindness is _________ nice ideas and that people somehow have to make it come _________.

Early in the week, the boys and girls arrived in class seizing their hard-earned money and couldn’t wait to go shopping. I watched _________ they ran up and down the supermarket aisles. _________, we headed toward the checkout. Then someone _________ a “necessity” that sent them racing.

“Flowers!” Kristine cried. The group rushed toward the holiday __________. I pronounced, “You can’t eat flowers.” “But Mrs. Sherlock, we want flowers.” __________, I sighed as the children moved a pot of purple daisies (雏菊) into the cart.

Then we set off for the house of a needy grandmother and finally __________ in front of a small house in the woods. A woman with a tired face came to the door to __________ us. My little group hurried to get the turkey and the trimmings. As each box was carried in, the old woman thanked us — much to children’s __________. When Amy put the daisies on the counter, the woman seemed __________.

We returned to the car. Fastening seat belts, we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye, then turned and walked across the room, past the turkey, past the trimmings, __________ to the daisies. She put her face in the flowers. When she raised her head, there was a __________ on her lips. She was transformed before our eyes. The children were quiet. In that one brief __________ they had seen for themselves the __________ they possessed to make another’s life better. The children had __________ that sometimes a person needs a pot of funny flowers on a dark November day.

1.

A．spend

B．earn

C．withdraw

D．save

2.

A．either

B．though

C．otherwise

D．anyway

3.

A．experience

B．expect

C．advocate

D．clarify

4.

A．enjoy

B．receive

C．accumulate

D．share

5.

A．better than

B．rather than

C．other than

D．more than

6.

A．alive

B．wrong

C．fresh

D．fair

7.

A．until

B．before

C．as

D．since

8.

A．Gradually

B．Eventually

C．Frequently

D．Occasionally

9.

A．observed

B．confirmed

C．recognized

D．spotted

10.

A．plants

B．lights

C．cards

D．foods

11.

A．Panicked

B．Moved

C．Defeated

D．Determined

12.

A．pulled up

B．settled down

C．turned out

D．got through

13.

A．accompany

B．welcome

C．inspect

D．instruct

14.

A．puzzle

B．astonishment

C．pleasure

D．disappointment

15.

A．surprised

B．depressed

C．embarrassed

D．amused

16.

A．straight

B．abruptly

C．gradually

D．close

17.

A．terror

B．shock

C．pain

D．smile

18.

A．chance

B．decision

C．moment

D．condition

19.

A．energy

B．power

C．talent

D．interest

20.

A．sensed

B．noticed

C．marked

D．checked

4 . While it may be commonplace, snubbing one’s friends can have serious impacts on relationships, and there are a variety of factors that may drive individuals to ignore their friends in favor of an electronic screen, according to a new University of Georgia study.

The study reveals positive associations between depression and social anxiety and increasing snubbing: depressed people are likely to snub their friends more frequently, and socially anxious people, who prefer online social interactions, might also exhibit more snubbing behavior. These people are really sensitive to their messages. With each buzz or sound, they consciously or unconsciously look at their phones. The device’s various applications are key drivers contributing to this dynamic.

The finding also shows that agreeable individuals have a lower instance of snubbing in the presence of their friends. People who have agreeableness as a personality feature tend to show cooperative, polite and friendly behaviors in their interpersonal relationships and social settings. Though agreeable people may prioritize strong friendships, an exploratory study reveals they are also more likely to turn to phones in the presence of three or more people.

That dynamic may influence the spread of snubbing in the context of a work environment. “It’s ironic that while so many people believe that snubbing behavior is rude, they still do it,” Sun said. “A majority of people snub others, and in a group, it may seem OK, because it’s just me, the speaker doesn’t notice I’m using the phone. The number of people in a group can be one reason.”

Alternately, disabling or turning over a phone can indicate a show of respect for a situation and focus on a person. That, too, is a signal—I am listening to what you are saying and I am focusing on you.

1. What does the underlined word “snubbing” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．ignoring

B．depressing

C．respecting

D．suspecting

2. What can cause snubbing behavior?

A．Social requirements.	B．Unhealthy mental condition.
C．Frequent social interactions.	D．Limited communication devices.

3. What can be inferred about the agreeable people?

A．They are insensitive to phone messages.

B．They are more likely to snub their friends.

C．They attach importance to firm friendships.

D．They get accustomed to groups with more people.

4. Why do some people continue snubbing behavior even if they know it’s rude?

A．The majority are using phones.

B．They don’t like the environment.

C．The speaker doesn’t care about it.

D．They think they will go unnoticed.

5. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．How snubbing behaviors can be avoided

B．Why people snub their friends with their phones

C．Why people are addicted to phone messages

D．How phones influence people’s social interactions

6 . You may be surprised to learn that one of the best steps you can take to protect your health is to step outside and spend some time in the grass, dirt and water. Our ancestors enjoyed the healing power of nature, and now scientists are starting to catch up. Researchers have documented how contact with nature can decrease mental tiredness, and enhance moods, concentration and problem-solving. Just having a view of nature has been shown to improve hospital patients’ recovery and reduce illness rates. Exposure to the open air, horseback riding, hiking, camping can be helpful for a variety of health conditions in adults and children. Much of this type of research is focusing on children, and in fact an entire movement has quickly developed to connect kids with the healing power of nature.

Obesity. Rates of childhood, adult obesity and related conditions including diabetes (糖尿病) and heart disease have grown greatly in recent years, partly because of reducing the time of outdoor activities. This problem can be partly addressed by increasing the time students spend learning about nature, both in and outside the classroom. Such lessons are often more engaging to students and often lead them to become more active outside.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (注意力缺失症). An exposure to ordinary natural settings in the course of common after-school and weekend activities may be widely effective in reducing attention shortness symptoms (症状) in children. Participation in green activities helps ADHD patients keep focused and complete tasks.

Stress. Access to nature, even houseplants, can help children deal with stress.

Depression and seasonal emotional disorder. Major depression requires medical treatment, but physical activity, especially those done outdoors, can help ease symptoms. Staying in the sunshine for just a few minutes can also help supply bone-building vitamin D. Experts say that simply walking in a city park can enjoy nature’s benefits.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is the most important for you to keep healthy?

A．Healthy diet.	B．Exercises.
C．Outdoor activities.	D．No smoking.

2. The underlined word “enhance” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.

A．improve	B．add
C．destroy	D．control

3. From the first paragraph, what do we know?

A．People didn’t enjoy the healing power of nature until recent years.

B．Having a view of nature is the only way to improve health conditions.

C．Outdoors activities are good for people’s health.

D．Researchers have found out what causes people’s mental tiredness and illness.

4. The effects of outdoor activities include all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A．helping people to control stress

B．helping children to increase the vitamin D level

C．helping people to reduce the symptoms of ADHD

D．helping scientists to believe the rates of adult obesity and the healing power of the open air

5. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Contact with Nature	B．The Benefits of Nature to Health
C．Exposure to the Open Air	D．Some Health Conditions

8 . I’d done it before, and so I had no reason to believe that this time would be any different. I was sure that when I returned home from my mission trip, as always, I’d bring back nothing more than some mud on my boots, a hole or two in my jeans and, of course, a lot of great memories.

The summer before my high school graduation, I went to West Virginia with others as volunteers to repair the homes of those in need. Arriving at our destination, my group was assigned the task of rebuilding sections of a home that had been damaged by fire. No sooner had we parked on the home’s dirt driveway than we saw an excited little girl, no more than six years old, standing in the doorway of the family’s temporary home. Shoeless and wearing dirty clothes and the biggest smile I’d ever seen, she yelled, “Ma, Ma, they really came!” I didn’t know it then, but her name was Dakota, and four more days would pass before she’d say another word near me.

Behind Dakota was a woman in a wheelchair — her grandmother, we’d soon learn. I also discovered that my job that week would be to help change a fire-damaged dining room into a bedroom for this little girl. Over the following days, I noticed Dakota peeking at us every now and then as we worked. A few times, I tried talking with her, but she remained shy and distant, always flying around us like a tiny butterfly but keeping to herself.

By our fifth and final day, however, this was about to change. Before I went to work on her home on that last morning, I spoke for a moment or two with the grandmother. I was especially pleased when she told me how much Dakota loved her new room — so much. As we talked, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before — Dakota was hiding behind her grandmother.

Cautiously, she stepped into view, and I could see that just like her clothes, her face was still dirty. But no amount of soil could hide those bright blue eyes and big smile. She was simply adorable. Slowly, she began walking toward me. It wasn’t until she was just inches away that I noticed the folded piece of paper in her tiny hand. Silently, she reached up and handed it to me. Once unfolded, I looked at the drawing she’d made with her broken crayons on the back of an old coloring book cover. It was of two girls — one much taller than the other — and they were holding hands. She told me it was supposed to be me and her, and on the bottom of the paper were three little words that instantly broke my heart: “Please don’t leave”. Now almost in tears, I couldn’t control myself anymore — I bent down and hugged her. She hugged me, too. And for the longest time, neither of us could let go.

I left for home early the next morning. I was returning with muddy boots and holes in my jeans. But because of Dakota, I brought back something else, too — a greater appreciation for all of the blessings of my life. I’ll never forget that barefoot little butterfly with the big smile and dirty face. I pray that she’ll never forget me either.

1. What did the author expect before taking this mission trip?

A．An exciting experience.	B．A special memory.
C．A routine result.	D．A surprising change.

2. From the appearance description of the little girl, we know ________.

A．she was an innocent and lovely child	B．she hoped for a better education
C．she was strong and calm in the inner world	D．she formed a bad living habit

3. The underlined part means that the little girl ________.

A．enjoyed meeting me	B．feared to talk with me
C．desired to approach me	D．resisted accepting me

4. How did the author feel after unfolding the piece of paper?

A．She worried about the little girl’s future.

B．She decided to keep helping the little girl.

C．She felt a greater affection for the little girl.

D．She got surprised at the little girl’s worthless gift.

5. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．One must learn to share life experiences.

B．One should be more grateful for the gift of life.

C．One often wants to lead a meaningful life.

D．One occasionally benefits from the poverty.

9 . By now you’ve probably heard about the “you’re not special” speech, when English teacher David McCullough told graduating seniors at Wellesley High School: "Do not get the idea you're anything special, because you're not." Mothers and fathers present at the ceremony — and a whole lot of other parents across the internet — took issue with McCullough's ego-puncturing words. But lost in the anger and protest was something we really should be taking to heart: our young people actually have no idea whether they're particularly talented or accomplished or not. In our eagerness to elevate their self-esteem, we forgot to teach them how to realistically assess their own abilities, a crucial requirement for getting better at anything from math to music to sports. In fact, it's not just privileged high-school students: we all tend to view ourselves as above average.

Such inflated (膨胀的) self-judgments have been found in study after study, and it's often exactly when we're least competent at a given task that we rate our performance most generously. In a 2006 study published in the journal Medical Education, for example, medical students who scored the lowest on an essay test were the most charitable in their self-evaluations, while high-scoring students judged themselves much more strictly. Poor students, the authors note, "lack insight" into their own inadequacy. Why should this be? Another study, led by Cornell University psychologist David Dunning, offers an enlightening explanation. People who are incompetent, he writes with co-author Justin Kruger, suffer from a "dual burden": they're not good at what they do, and their wry ineptness (笨拙) prevents them from recognizing how bad they are.

In Dunning and Kruger's study, subjects scoring at the bottom of the heap on tests of logic, grammar and humor "extremely overestimated" their talents. Although their test scores put them in the 12^th percentile, they guessed they were in the 62^nd. What these individuals lacked (in addition to clear logic, proper grammar and a sense of humor) was "metacognitive skill" (元认知技巧): the capacity to monitor how well they're performing. In the absence of that capacity, the subjects arrived at an overly hopeful view of their own abilities. There's a paradox (悖论) here, the authors note: “The skills that develop competence in a particular domain are often the very same skills necessary to evaluate competence in that domain. "In other words, to get better at judging how well we’re doing at an activity, we have to get better at the activity itself.

There are a couple of ways out of this double bind (两难). First, we can learn to make honest comparisons with others. Train yourself to recognize excellence, even when you yourself don't possess it, and compare what you can do against what truly excellent individuals are able to accomplish. Second, seek out feedback that is frequent, accurate and specific. Find a critic who will tell you not only how poorly you're doing, but just what it is that you're doing wrong. As Dunning and Kruger note, success indicates to us that everything went right, but failure is more ambiguous: any number of things could have gone wrong. Use this external feedback to figure out exactly where and when you screwed up.

If we adopt these strategies — and most importantly, teach them to our children — they won't need parents, or a commencement(毕业典礼) speaker, to tell them that they're special. They'll already know that they are, or have a plan to get that way.

1. The underlined phrase "took issue with" in paragraph 1 most probably means      .

A．totally approved of	B．disagreed with
C．fully understood	D．held discussion about

2. The author thinks the problem that shouldn't be overlooked is that      .

A．we don’t know whether our young people are talented or not

B．young people can't reasonably define themselves

C．no requirement is set up for young people to get better

D．we always tend to consider ourselves to be privileged

3. Which is NOT mentioned about poor students according to the passage?

A．They lack the capacity to monitor how well they are performing.

B．They usually give themselves high scores in self-evaluations.

C．They tend to be unable to know exactly how bad they are.

D．They are intelligently inadequate in tests and exams.

4. We can infer from the passage that those high-scoring students      .

A．are not confident about their logic and grammar

B．tend to be very competent in their high-scoring fields

C．don't know how well they perform due to their stringent self-judgment

D．is very careful about their self-evaluations because they have their own limits

5. The strategies of becoming special suggest that      .

A．the best way to recognize excellence is to study past success and failure

B．through comparison with others, one will know where and when he fails

C．we need internal honesty with ourselves and external honesty from others

D．neither parents nor a commencement speaker can tell whether one is special

6. Which can be the best title of this passage?

A．Special or Not? Teach Kids To Figure It Out

B．Let's Admit That We Are Not That Special

C．Tips On Making Ourselves More Special

D．Tell The Truth: Kids Overestimate their Talents

10 . It was a cold evening and my daughter and I were walking up Broadway. I didn't notice a guy sitting inside a cardboard box. But Nora did. She wasn't even four, but she _______ at my coat and said, “That man's cold. Daddy, _______ we take him home?”

I don't remember my reply. But I do remember a sudden _______ feeling inside me. I had always been delighted at how much my daughter noticed in her _______, whether it was _______ in flight or children playing. But now she was noticing _______ and beggary.

A few days later, I saw an article in the newspaper about volunteers who picked up a food package from a nearby school on a Sunday morning and _______ it to an elderly person. It was quick and easy. I _______ us up. Nora was _______ about it. She could understand the importance of food, so she could easily see how ________ our job was. When Sunday came, she was ready, but I had to ________ myself to leave the house to fetch the food package. On my way to the school, I fought an urge to ________. The Sunday paper and coffee were waiting for me at home. Why do this? ________, we phoned the elderly person we'd been appointed. She ________ us right over.

The building was in a bad state. Facing us was a silver-haired woman in an old dress. She took the package and asked us to come in. Nora ran inside. I unwillingly followed. ________ inside, I saw that the department belonged to someone poor. Our hostess showed us some photos. Nora played and when it came time to say goodbye, we three hugged, I walked home in tears.

Professionals call such a(n) ________ “a volunteer opportunity”. They are opportunities, I've come to see. Where else but as volunteers do you have the opportunity to do something ________ that’s good for others as well as for yourself? Nora and I regularly serve to needy people and ________ clothes for the homeless. Yet, as I’ve ________ her grow over these past four years, I still wonder-which of us has ________ more?

1.

A．pulled

B．glanced

C．waved

D．armed

2.

A．would

B．can

C．need

D．must

3.

A．general

B．funny

C．heavy

D．curious

4.

A．area

B．part

C．eyesight

D．world

5.

A．insects

B．animals

C．plants

D．birds

6.

A．coldness

B．illness

C．suffering

D．ignorance

7.

A．delivered

B．returned

C．devoted

D．posted

8.

A．held

B．hurried

C．signed

D．lined

9.

A．casual

B．sorry

C．astonished

D．excited

10.

A．creative

B．valuable

C．shocking

D．simple

11.

A．warn

B．stop

C．allow

D．push

12.

A．turn back

B．get away

C．show up

D．come out

13.

A．Therefore

B．Obviously

C．Still

D．Also

14.

A．called

B．promised

C．invited

D．helped

15.

A．Although

B．Once

C．Because

D．As

16.

A．stay

B．visit

C．adventure

D．challenge

17.

A．fair

B．famous

C．difficult

D．enjoyable

18.

A．collect

B．make

C．order

D．wear

19.

A．let

B．made

C．watched

D．noticed

20.

A．increased

B．benefited

C．tried

D．seized